Next year denotes the year of the Ox.

Not the legendary Babe the Blue Ox that served his master, Paul Bunyan, so well, but the ox of the Chinese zodiac.

February 7 marks the beginning of a new lunar calendar for several Chinese and Taiwanese Iowa State students.

“New Year’s is the most important holiday to get together with family,” said Han-Ching Wu, president of the Taiwanese Student Association.

The Chinese and Taiwanese follow the lunar calendar for traditional holidays. It is calculated from the moon’s rotation and originated approximately 3,000 years ago, said Shiwu Sung, adjunct assistant professor of civil engineering and Taiwanese Student Association adviser.

The agricultural seasons are measured by the lunar calendar so farmers know when to plant and harvest and when the frost will set in, Sung said.

“We follow the Western calendar for everything else besides our traditional Chinese holidays,” said Ya-Fen Lo, graduate student in professional studies of education.

Lo is upset that she can’t make the trip home to celebrate with her family for the holiday. It has been about five years since she has been back, she said.

“I can’t go home. I miss New Year’s a lot,” Lo said.

The Chinese and Taiwanese share the same traditions despite their separate political entities, which were the result of a civil war ending in 1949, Wu said.

Both Lo and Wu said one tradition is the giving of the money-containing “red envelope” to children by their parents and grandparents.

The explosion of firecrackers is also typical of festivities on a New Year’s morning, Lo said. She said there are also parades in Taiwan’s capital, Taipei, on New Year’s Day.

Family reunions and dinners are also essential components of New Year’s celebrations. Some families get together to play cards and gamble with each other, she said.

Children take part in gambling but they wager candy, Lo said.

Like the United States New Year’s traditions, drinking is part of celebrating the New Year for some people, Lo said, although she doesn’t drink.

There are no legal restrictions on who can purchase alcohol in Taiwan.

The Taiwanese Student Association is sponsoring a New Year’s celebration on Saturday Feb. 8 at 5:30 p.m. at the Collegiate United Methodist Church Wesley Foundation, 2622 Lincoln Way, Ames. The event is closed to the public because of space restraint.

Folk dancing performances by the local Chinese school will be part of the evening’s gala. There will be a gift exchange “lottery,” and the passing of the “red envelope” to youngsters in attendance.